The Full Story

Matt Derado, the founder of The Healing Joy Experience, has always found healing and joy in things like music, time with friends, and guy’s trips to hang out, laugh, and have fun.

All of that stopped for a season of Matt’s life when his family: Matt, wife Jenna, son Corbin, and daughter Brooke faced one of those trials in life that consumed everything. Matt and Jenna’s daughter Brooke became ill and was diagnosed with cancer.

There was much love, many prayers, and people willing to help, but there is no way around a season like this taking a significant toll on a father, mother, sibling, child, and family.

The great news is that Brooke bravely fought through and is now cancer-free. When this truth settles in you, look around and assess the state of everything else. Matt realized that when there is no time, energy, or money for the things that bring joy and healing, it is very easy for darkness to set in. There was much darkness for a long time.

This is why Matt is such a fan of Make a Wish Foundation’s trips to bring healing and joy to children who are fighting or have fought so hard. Matt believes all moms should get away with their girlfriends regularly to connect and experience that same healing and joy.

At the same time, Matt knew that there was something different about men, the dads. In the aftermath, men need the same healing from joy-filled experiences, but after a lengthy battle with medical bills piling up, few men will take the time or money to care for themselves.

This is where The Healing Joy Experience was born. Like Make a Wish, but for dads. Every year THJE sponsors several dads who are nominated by friends, family, nurses, and doctors (because they would never nominate themselves). The Healing Joy Experience does what it says it does - it sends these guys on a joy-filled weekend experience with friends that naturally brings the healing they need.

Matt has been able to walk out of the darkness he experienced. He is back to taking annual trips with his friends, filled with fun and laughter. He is enjoying music now more than ever as he trained and became a professional party DJ. Now all of the proceeds he earns from DJ events goes to help guys take trips to experience joy and healing.

You can help too. Every donation you make will help send a dad on a trip. It will help him get away to a place with friends where he can hopefully laugh again and experience the joy that leads to healing.